Steve Rogers || Captain America (shield) wrote in antebellum, @ 2016-09-12 13:02:00 |
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For almost two years now, Steve had devoted much of his own time to finding Bucky Barnes. Occasionally, other missions had taken priority, but thoughts of locating the Winter Soldier never left Steve's mind. There were a few times in the past that Steve knew that he and Sam had gotten close. Or at least, close enough to confirm that Barnes was in hiding, on his own, and far away from the reaches of HYDRA and those who used to control him. Knowing that Barnes was relatively safe and out of harm's way had made Steve ease up a bit on his efforts to find him. But it was also the reason why Rogers was caught entirely off guard when Fox News announced Barnes as the lead suspect in the UN bombing tragedy and the assassination of Wakanda’s King.
Now, the high-profile terrorist attack meant leads were pouring in about Bucky’s possible whereabouts. Even though Steve knew he couldn't possibly be involved, he was aware that this media attention put him nearer to finding Barnes than he ever had been before.
But, at least officially, there was nothing that he or the Avengers could do about it.
Three weeks ago, would have used Tony to scan the reports coming in. He could have pushed Natasha and Sam into the field and had his team bring in Barnes so they could question him about the incident and get to the truth. But Wakanda wanted nothing to do with Avengers interference. The King’s son T’challa had personally revoked Steve’s request to assist because he saw the Avengers as responsible for the deaths of some Wakandan citizens. Rogers couldn't protest the decision. While tracking down Rumlow, he’d made mistakes, and T’challa’s people had died as a result. The whole incident was what pushed the Sokovian Accords through, finally. And while Steve suspected that something like this might happen, he signed the Accords. There we no other way for him to express that he was willing to take responsibility for his actions.
If it had been any other mission or any other order, he would have respected the decisions made by the UN council and kept away as requested. But this was Bucky. He'd disobeyed orders to go after him before, and nothing was going to stop him from doing it again. Besides, the Accords explicitly stated that they had the power to approve and revoke sanctioned Avengers missions, and if Steve just took a little Eastern European vacation, he wasn't technically breaking any rules.
***
The Ferentari sector of Bucharest was not the easiest to get to. There were no subways lines that connected it to the city centre and given the area's reputation for Roma squatters and organised crime, very few drivers who were willing to point their cabs in that direction. But what Steve lacked in understanding the language, he made up for in sheer determination and eventually he worked out which connecting trams he needed to take to get himself to La Maici.
The more Steve moved away from downtown, the more he felt like he was going back in time. His last tram reminded him of Red Hook’s Bergen Street Line, which was shut down in 1947. Because, Steve’s estimation, ‘47 was probably the same year that Bucharest streetcar he was in was last updated. But as long as it got him where he needed to go, Rogers didn't care what it looked like. He would have hired a goat cart if that was his only option.
With his height, broad shoulders, well-groomed appearance, Steve stuck out from his surroundings like a wolf in a hen house. Even though he’d opted to make the journey in the most casual clothes he could find (with his shield and uniform concealed in an awkwardly sized suitcase) the level of poverty in the area, comparatively, made him feel like he was wearing one of Tony’s eighty dollar T-shirts.
For almost the entirety of this journey, Steve had been trying really hard not to think about Tony Stark. He knew that bending the rules of Sokovia Accords agreement, while the ink of his signature was still wet on the paper, was going to cause Stark and the other Avengers a world of grief. But Steve felt a pang of guilt for how much this would come down specifically on Tony. While Rogers took the lead on most missions, there was no doubt that Stark was the backbone of the Avengers. Tony had also championed the Accords and pushed for the Avengers to sign. Stark believed in them, and as much as Steve agreed with him, Rogers knew that putting Bucky before the Avengers and the Accords was going to read as a betrayal.
In a narrow alley, behind a dumpster that looked more hospitable than the tram car he'd just left behind, Steve threw off his clothes and changed into his uniform. Rogers fixed an earpiece into his ear to tune into nearby radio frequencies so he’d have a heads up in case the police started to close in. Then, Steve swung his shield onto his shoulder and silently climbed the fire escape up to the roof. After leaving his suitcase tucked in behind a vent, he jumped across from one roof to the next arriving at Bucky’s building. After he found the right window and made sure the place was empty, it was as simple as breaking the latch and slipping in.
It was hard to resist the urge to look around, especially when he noticed the journal meticulously placed on top of the fridge just far enough back to be unnoticeable. But Steve left everything untouched and pressed himself into a corner of the kitchen to wait for Barnes to come home.